A/N: Sorry I haven't updated on any of my stories. I have a terrible case of writer's block; I can't seem to get any new idea flowing. But I'll keep trying, just for you guys!
One Hour Later
Wilson
Everyone agreed that he got to visit Greg first; after all, he had known him the longest, and he was his best friend.
Wilson however, felt trepidation, and hated himself for it. He knew Greg had looked awful downstairs, and he knew what he'd look like after the surgery to remove the blood from his brain. When you had to drill into the skull...
Suck it up damn you. Your friend needs you.
So he gritted his teeth and followed Gillian Reardon into the ICU.
"It'll be a bit of shock," she cautioned. "As Dr. Foreman explained, we had to drill to remove the blood, so his head's shaved, and there's quite a lot of bandages. Then there's the respirator-"
"Gillian, I'm a doctor, too. I do know what to expect." Wilson said tiredly.
She gazed at him shrewdly. "Yes, but you're also Dr. House's friend. And I'm simply warning you... he doesn't look good.
That, Wilson discovered, was a gross understatement.
The whisper of the respirator, something which had never bothered him before, now made him sick to his stomach. Knowing that Greg's life depended on the machine...
As Gillian had said, his head was swathed in bandages, in which blood peeked from around the edges.
His face was clean of blood now, but it was terribly bruised, his cheekbone and lip split.
A heavy cast was on his left arm; Wilson knew that pins and screws now held the bone together.
He hardly recognized his friend, twisted, bloody and broken. This wasn't Greg; this was grotesque imitation. He didn't want to look too closely, but forced himself to.
He took a seat next to him, ignoring the tears that were now flowing down his face. He was alone now. He could cry for his friend.
He grasped Greg's limp, relatively undamaged hand. It was bruised and cut, but not broken like his left arm.
He held it tightly, as if it were a lifeline connecting House to the living.
"You listen to me, dammit. You better wake up, and soon, Greg. You've got a lot of people worried about you, including me. Especially me."
Cameron
Wilson went in to see House first; and came back out looking terrible. It didn't take a genius, she decided, to see that he had been crying.
That sent a chill down her spine.
She caught his hand, and stared hard at him. "How... how is he? How does he look?"
He stared down at her blankly for a moment, appearing to grope for words. "Not...very good." His voice was rusty and hoarse.
Oh Jesus, he thinks he's not going to wake up, that he's going to die.
These thoughts flashed through Cameron's head and stuck there, refusing to leave.
She was suddenly aware of Stacy Warner at Wilson's side, murmuring something that she was unable to hear. Saw James nodding, then, after embracing Wilson, she made her way into House's ICU suite.
Although she knew it was stupid, anger flared, making her face flush.
What right does she have to be going in there? She LEFT him. Broke his heart, by all indications. He only suffers when she's around, why can't anyway see it but me? He needs his friends with him, not the woman who-
"Cameron," Wilson was looking at her; eyes red, but his perceptiveness still intact. "Are you all right? You look a little... odd."
She swallowed. "My boss is in the ICU, seriously injured. I think I'm entitled to look a little odd."
Wilson bestowed on her a gentle, if sad smile. "But that's not all he is to you, is he?"
She started to protest, to say that she was over House, but Wilson held up a hand.
"I'm not blind, Allison. The way you look at him hasn't changed," he smiled again. "And I think, deep down, he feels the exact same way."
She blinked, absolutely flabbergasted. "What...how?"
"Conversations we've had. He's very protective of you, and on more than one occasion, I believe it's bordered on jealousy," he sighed. "He's just... afraid. To let himself have a relationship again, after..."
"Stacy."
Wilson
He's a bit surprised, no stunned, at the amount of venom Cameron carried in that single word.
Hell, she had practically hissed it.
He raised an eyebrow. "I take it you're not a fan of Stacy's?" He was speaking absently, as half of him was inside the ICU, fighting with Greg.
Cameron's jaw clenched. "I guess you could say that I'm not particularly fond of her."
"Why?" Wilson stepped up to the vending machine, ordered coffee. He felt exhausted, but didn't want to sleep until he knew that Greg was going to be okay.
Cameron watched him, and followed suit. But she was silent.
"Allison?"
"Because that-that bitch broke his heart! You can tell whenever she's around him, that it hurts him so badly. She's caused him nothing but pain, and I hate her for it."
She took a long pull of her coffee, and stared at him over the rim. "For hurting such a brilliant man like Dr. House, when he so obviously loved her. I know he doesn't give out his trust easily, and when he does..." she shook her head. "She betrayed it. So I'll always despise her."
Cameron went to turn away, "And she doesn't deserve to be in there with him."
She strode off, leaving him standing alone in the hallway.
M/C! I'll keep trying!